What happened when you had a panic/anxiety attack?

I am not 100% sure if I have had a panic/anxiety attack or am even sure what it is.

If you've had an attack and are sure of it. Can you please describe it or tell me anything about it (in details)? Like why it came on and what you were feeling (both mentally and physically)?

It would really help me sort myself out!

I am not 100% sure if I have had a panic/anxiety attack or am even sure what it is.

If you've had an attack and are sure of it. Can you please describe it or tell me anything about it (in details)? Like why it came on and what you were feeling (both mentally and physically)?

It would really help me sort myself out!

Hey pulp!

Panic can vary greatly from person to person. I myself will happen upon a disturbing thought. It usually has to do with self doubt or fear of my own bizarre thoughts. My disorder is combined with OCD. Anyway, usually what happens is i can feel the panic coming. Its like a train and im tied to the tracks. Its like someone is shooting at me and my legs go out on me and i cant run away. I take a deep breath and try to externalize but i usually end up feeling dizzy and experience derealization.

First let me tell you what derealization is for me personally. Its makes me feeling like im looking at life through a window. Almost as if im not really there. Almost as if im dreaming. This scares the hell out of me and clears the path for panic to come crashing into my life.

The next thing that goes through my mind is "im alone in this world. I am going to die. Nobody is this messed up. Im doomed and alone." and BOOM! I get up and walk to the bathroom. I smack myself in the face. I splash cold water on my face. I start playing air guitar to try and distract myself hehe. I make funny noises or recite a comedy routine by George Carlin(my favorite stand up comic). At this point i would do anything to make the panic go away.

All of a sudden i feel a little peace so i sit back down. Sitting back down is usually a terrible mistake. I should keep moving because little do i know i am standing in the eye of the storm. Soon i will experience the second wave.

My heart pounds and i cant slow it down. My hands get cold and i begin to tremble lightly. But mostly i just feel like i am going to go insane or die or both. Sometimes i even think to myself "If i am going to die just let me die already! I dont want to go on like this!". Suprisingly that helps! Why? Because i begin to cry and my emotions become filled with sadness. Either that or i get angry. Anger helps me to smash panic right in the face hehe. Sometimes i can control it so it doesnt get out of hand, no crying, no anger. But sometimes im just forced to ride that train all the way to hell and back.

I hope my personal description will help you a little.

Hi,

Quoting: "If i am going to die just let me die already! I dont want to go on like this!". Suprisingly that helps! Why?"

I answer that with: You give into the fear. You're no longer afraid of it. You want dead already, so what can it still hurt you. A panic attack is fear of fear. That means that you are so afraid to lose it (by that disturbing thought), that when you think of that happening, you get afraid of that thought AND the fact that you panicked over it before already, so that you get 'double' scared, fear of fear: fear of the panic attack and fear for losing it, and even scared that BY the panic attack you might lose it even more.

When you finally give into it, and say "Oh no.... here again... I am so tired of this. I don't even want this... but well let me just die already anyway" is basically saying "OK I give into my panic... let it just do it's worst to me. I don't mind anymore. I don't even want to bother being afraid of it anymore". That is what takes the fear out of it.

You should even go further, and WANT to get a panic attack, so you can prove to yourself that you're NOT afraid of it and on top of that, you always came out on the other end! Look forward to that moment of challenging yourself again, of conquering the panic attack.

Greetings, Peter.

I'm not really sure what a panic attack is, but I'll tell you about a feeling I had once. I'd gotten myself in a right state about something and I started to feel really dizzy. I then felt really sick. I had to sit down and concentrate dead hard on relaxing and getting the feelings to pass. I have a bit of a fear about being sick so it didn't help when I started to feel sick 'cause I then got more and more panicky. In the end I managed to calm down, but I felt shit afterwards. :(

I know uv heard over and over again that the feeling cosists of "your'e goin to die" Well with me personally Im in a position where my heart rate increases rapidly, I get clammy hands. I feel like i could walk around the room for hours but not end up anywhere. My connection between my brain and body cease and suddenly I feel like something else is in controll. After carrying out a task you might think to urself "did I just do that". You become in a land where everything is fake and your loosing your mind. It varies with people. Some people will feel like there chests are caving in while others feel like they are loosin all sense of reality. Sometimes people may feel like they are going to break out into a seizure but never really do. as wierd as it sounds some individuals feel the constant feelinf of cracking there back and neck thinking it will help, but this unfortunately does not work. There are cases that can last up to 18 hours a day for up to six months. This should be treatedwith medication perscribed by a psychiatrist. Then keep a constant relationship with you doctor until you find out the right med u should be taking and how long you should be taking them. These madications are not ones u should buy on the street, cos u know they are out there. These types of medications can be extremely dangerous if not takin at the proper dose or at the proper times. the RX mess with chemicals in you brain so taking more or less than reccomende could cause brain damage and be fatal. With any type of anxiety, panic, or depression medications, the dose shoul start as a small one to see how your body reacts to it. Drinking alcohol with these medication is extremely dangerous and is no reccomended. Weel thats the best I can do for u. If for any reason u think your symptoms might be neurologically related (brain tumors, brain hemridging, or just an infection) Jump up and down on one foot without holding on to anything. STOP. Then do the same with the other. If u are able to pull this off there is a 99.9% chance that there is nothing wrong with your brain or spine........Proven by doctors at the Phoenix children's Hospital.......Dr. Sorrells MD

Much like others I can feel an attack coming on. Or I guess I initiate an attack. I guess you spend a bit of time thinking 'am I feeling funny' then that thought alone 'ignites' an attack cause, strangely enough when you think 'do I feel funny' you almost feel like your giving the attack a turbo boost and viola it's here.

Derealization is a pre curser to an attack I find. This is when you can be travelling along quite merely and you think you are in a dream. Then you snap out and start to freak a bit. Personally these aren't the worst thing aside from the fact that it reminds me of the problem.

The ones that really suck are the ones when I get chills shoot over my head with feelings of dread and nausea. Feelings of not being able to cope, thoughts of going insane and not being able to return to normal life. I have found some comfort in the fact that insane people don't know the are going insane so if I were actually going to go insane I wouldn't know it!

I have had these attacks before but have just returned to the club recently. The first time I had problems was chest pain / heart palpitations I had a journey to the ER a couple of times but it took a forum like this for me to realise that I had anxiety. It is true the brain is very powerful and can emulate any symptom. I was sure I had a PE and had half convinced a nurse I had!

This is almost the double edge sword of the internet, you can find help like this on the net, but also the net feeds you with information that will marry your symptoms up with a terminal disease.

My experience with panic attacks leads me to believe that, if you suffered just
ONE, you know exactly what the feeling is. You don't have to wonder whether or not you had a panic attack. One way to describe it is to imagine a lion or tiger about to pounce on you. It's sheer terror.

Peter, I totally agree with you, based on some of my own experiences. Once we can think, and really mean it, that whatever happens to us, including dying, we will ACCEPT---no more fighting. Amazingly (or not so amazing) we can become instantly peaceful. No more fear of "the fear". We have denied it it's FALSE power. It is NOT who we really are---it's a FAKE, a con man, if you will.

The keyword here is, "Accept".

Aside from this worthwhile advice, I do not rule out professional help.